


When Winter Met Summer

by cactusgal



Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: Fluff, Happy Ending, M/M, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-08
Updated: 2019-08-08
Packaged: 2020-08-13 06:08:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,510
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20169415
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cactusgal/pseuds/cactusgal
Summary: A little love story about two feuding spirits who control the earth. One controls the cold and one controls the heat and they constantly battle for control on the planet. Mother Nature, who has taken the planet under her wing, finally decides it's time to do something. Inspired by Heatmiser and Snowmiser fromA Year Without a Santa Clausand the Panic at the Disco song "When the Day Met the Night".





	When Winter Met Summer

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this a while ago, but I figured I would post it here. Please enjoy :)

For all of time that Earth had ever existed, seasons had been severe. There was no peaceful, tranquil time in between a snowstorm and a heatwave; no peacetime within the war between seasons. Both smoke and snow swirled around among each other through the bright blue skies of the forgotten planet. The sea was never steady, only crashing against the shore like it was the stained walls of a washtub. Snowy wonderlands turned to deserts within a matter of days meanwhile savannahs turned to ice caps in a matter of hours. Little inhabited earth because of that fact; it was either too cold or too hot for anything to be sustainable. The two extremes were not habitable for any creature that could possibly exist. Among other planets, Earth was considered a dysfunctional cousin everyone seemed to forget about. At least Saturn had its beauty, Jupiter its size; Earth had nothing of substance. Earth as a planet was disregarded as even a mass. Earth’s actual spirit had abandoned it long ago, opting for some newer, more attractive post. According to legend, they had just thrown up their hands and traveled to the newest nebula, leaving the planet to rot in their absence. Earth was then abandoned and after years and years, had twirled itself into a web of dysfunction and madness; it had become uninhabitable by all kinds of life. Not even the most primitive of life could live there, either being fried alive on the boiling land or frozen in the frigid oceans. Event Neptune could host the most basic varieties of bacteria; it was pathetic that something that massive could be so fruitless.

However, even though the planet itself was considered a disgrace and generally useless, Mother Nature, who controlled the well being of the entire planet, was well adored through the solar system. She was wise and well respected long before she had come across Earth; for millenniums before with no planet to brag about. She had no home, no place where she truly belonged but was always welcomed to stay in other planets. All of the galaxies loved her company, often inviting her to come whenever she wanted and missing her when she wasn’t a guest. Everyone thought she was lucky without the stress of managing an entire celestial body, but it saddened her to not have a sole purpose; no planet or even pebble to control and put all of her efforts into. She hungered for a reason; a purpose for her immortal existence.

Maybe that’s why she took a liking to Earth. No one knew exactly why she found the planet interesting, but for some reason, they believe she saw something in the swirls of gas covering it and water taking the majority. To everyone else, Earth had become a piece of garbage they just forgot about and disregarded. To her, though, she saw the Earth as something like herself. Without purpose; without a true being. Maybe that was the reason she chose to take it on, even though everyone still isn’t quite sure what the cause was even today.

Even though she took a liking to Earth, her popularity didn’t deter. All the stars, comets and planets alike adored her; she had a caring nature that just drew others to her. She just seemed to glow whenever she was visiting with the cosmos or doing business among the galaxy. With long, blonde hair enlaced with flowers of every kind and skin as smooth as marble, not even the strongest of spirits could resist her intoxicating beauty. She resonated youth, with pink petal lips and humanoid features, much like almost every spirit made themselves appear to be(probably the only viable mark earth had made on the universe). With her eyes green as the color of all that lived -or didn’t at that point- on her planet, she cared for absolutely anything and everyone. With her, most were confused as to why her planet was so dysfunctional. Mars had a rather grumpy spirit, but the planet still possessed some value. So why doesn't Earth have the same?

The real reason lied in Mother Nature’s closest friends, who happened the next two in charge of the planet's well being. They were the complete opposites of each other and on opposing sides of the planet. Maybe the miscommunication is what made the planet spiral out of control. Besides the distance, the two spirits differentiated in every way possible. One of the two controlled all that was cold, whether it is blizzards or glaciers; ice that hung from caves far in the arctic. The other was the god of the deserts and heat, who was the ruler of droughts and summer. Unlike today, they were in a constant battle with each other, fighting for control constantly and attempting to undermine each other. They were opposite; night and day, hot and cold, wet and dry. Nothing the same.

It didn’t help that they had grown to abhor the other with a passion, even though they had never seen each other face to face before. They would only see the result of what the other had done, scowling to themselves in horror. They saw each other in a negative light, always becoming aggravated after they constantly undid each other's hard work. At the start of the galaxy, it was only remotely irritating, but now it became extremely bothersome to them both. The constant back and forth battle -tug of war for control- had continued for centuries and it wasn’t like anything was going to change any time soon.

Heat was no different. Heat hated Cold with a passion. One could say that he was biased in a way, but when he saw that a newly made desert that he had formed had suddenly turned into an icy tundra, he was less than happy. Yes, he didn’t even know the guy but whenever Heat would try to do something good for Mother Nature, Cold would go and ruin it with a major freeze, aggravating Heat even farther. He was failing his friend all because of this irritating person who was only there to mess with him. Cold was horrid; nothing could live or thrive in the cold, didn’t he realize?

Heat was only trying to help Mother Nature. She was such a sweet person in his eyes and she didn’t deserve to be drowned in the horrid chaos that was Earth. She was the popular one; the only one who got invited to any types of celestial parties. All the other spirits of the failing planet were left in the mess, but that’s the way it had been for millenniums. In the very beginning, the Earth spirit -who was awful- controlled everything to do with the planet. So, when he stomped off like the irresponsible imbecile he was, the reigns were open to a new spirit. However, he and another spirit -who he at this point had nicknamed Cold- had tried to seize the controls at the same time, which had resulted in mass destruction in the planet's life. Ever since, the two spirits had been trying to operate from opposite sides of the planet, which often resulted in an explosion or any other sort of dilemma.

Heat felt bad for Mother Nature since she really didn’t have to be dealing with Earth. She could’ve been a free spirit and floating through solar systems, drinking and laughing among many other respected spirits. Yet, she chose to stay and ruin her reputation little by little. It wasn’t like Heat was complaining, but it didn’t make sense in his world. Yet, she had stayed.

Heat ran a hand through his hair(he has formed himself into a human-like form for now, since he hated all his other options), a few sparks flying off of the burning strands. He had just restored Antarctica back to its previous desert state he had transformed it into. It took some effort since Cold had somehow seized it when he was on a lunch date with Mother Nature, but it was back under control. Sand covered the entire mass of land, which made Heat pleased. With one last tap on his control pad, he turned away from it, sighing to himself and wiping his forehead, causing more sparks to drop the burned black floor.He didn’t understand why Cold didn’t just leave him alone. Heat was trying to save the little hope left for the planet; Cold wasn’t helping one bit, only being a nuisance to what Heat was trying to accomplish. How would a tree grow if the ground froze over? He didn’t understand what Cold’s logic could possibly be or how it could be that screwed up. But, somehow it was and he kept on freezing all of the beautiful desert Heat had created. What an asshole.

He looked around his lair, finding comfort in the bubbling lava behind his chair and the smoke that was littered through the air. It was very quiet, yes, only the bubbles popping in the magma breaking the silence every now and then. It was a fairly large cavern, but there wasn’t much there. What use would he have for mortal devices? He was immortal; no need for sleep, nutrition or exercise - he had heard horror stories of exercise from his annoying spirit-human hybrid relatives. He merely had the control pad and space, for that was all he needed. It didn’t bother him anyway, he was never one to want or need extravagant decorations anyway. He sighed, turning back to his controls and readjusting his hair again. He was grateful that the usual idiotic relative hadn’t stomped through by now- as on most days they would come through without warning and start ranting about some bitchy ice spirit. He was thankful they hadn’t appeared, but just merely the quiet white noise was killing him of boredom. Nothing had changed for him for thousands of years. He had sat in the same, obsidian chair, looked at the same controls and fought Cold for centuries. Yes, he would occasionally visit Mother Nature and have to escape his horrendous family, but for the most part, Heat was utterly alone. He sat on his throne and never came down; it got quite lonely up there. 

He stared at the ground, sighing sadly again, but suddenly a beep rang through the room, causing Heat to jump up. His thoughts snapped away from his deep sadness, shaking his head and causing a spray of sparks to drop to the ground below. His dark brown eyes searched wildly over the controls, sneering in anger when he saw that Cold had overtaken Antarctica. Again, right from under his nose. It had only been a few minutes! Could they ever give him a break?

Heat huffed, tapping into the controls and attempting to redo what he had done just mere minutes before. He gritted his teeth, wanting nothing more than to just do something else, but it wasn’t like he had a choice. It seemed quite monotonous, but he guessed that’s just the duties of a spirit.

***

“I don’t get it, Mother Nature, why does he have to ruin everything?” Cold ran his hands over his face as Mother Nature sipped her drink, sighing to herself at the problem that seemed almost redundant by now. He was obviously troubled by Heat, frost falling from his hair and his pale white skin looking paler than usual. Even his muscles seemed to be at least somewhat clenched, which she assumed must’ve not been comfortable. Mother Nature had never seen him this bad; usually Cold was a more pleasant friend than Heat, who had a fiery temper sometimes. She wasn’t used to Cold’s teeth as white as fallen snow not being shown, just a grimace with a pained look in the eyes. She was worried about him; this definitely was not usual for the boy.

“Heat doesn’t ruin everything, merely changes them from glacie-” Mother Nature tried to speak but Cold didn’t seem in the mood for any sort of rational discussion. He just groaned, shaking his head and pacing around. His long, artistic looking fingers tapping on his leg and his bottom pale lip sucked in in frustration. His tall figure was more hunched than usual, instead of radiating power and confidence, worry and doubt swirled off of him in harsh, short strokes. She didn’t know exactly what to do with him since Heat was also her closest friend, so she just tried to relate as best as possible.

“What grows in a desert?” Cold said exasperatingly. Mother Nature couldn’t exactly disagree. Her tongue ached to say ‘nothing grows in a snowfield either’ but she kept her mouth shut, eyeing the boy to see if he was ok. His usually relaxed shoulders were tense, the silky light blue fabric covering it displaying the obvious increased tension. The light in his eyes that was usually present, sparking like a new snowfall was deep and dark like the bottom of the Earth’s oceans. He looked so aggravated, fixing his jet black hair from its previously disheveled state. Mother Nature easily detected that her friend was stressed, but knew no way it could be helped.

“I mean, I haven’t even met Heat! I’m sure he’s somewhat decent considering you’re friends with him. I just don’t get why we have to be fighting all the time, you know?” Cold sighed, shrugging his shoulders, “He just screws everything up, but I’m sure he doesn’t mean to.”

Mother Nature nodded, just like she did when she had no idea how to help someone. Knowing the best way to help was to listen, the just continued to listen to Cold ramble about him and Heat. She racked her brain for any small piece of relief she could offer him, but absolutely nothing was coming to mind. 

“Heat must have the most messed up common sense or something…” Cold continued to babble about his ‘greatest enemy’. _Ugh, why don’t they just talk it out? Sure as hell would take less time than it would to rant._ She at first was shaking her head and rolling her eyes, but when she realized what the thought had been and her frustrated frown turned into a wicked smile within seconds. She scanned her eyes over Cold, smiling devilishly at the plan formulating in her head. By the time Cold had finally stopped talking about Heat, the plan and a backup had already been formed in her brain. So, when Cold finally shut up, she found the perfect opportunity to speak up.

“Cold, do you fancy coming to a party with me?”

“Party?” Cold looked skeptical. Hell, he had never been to a party before, especially not one that Mother Nature could be invited to. She was high class, he was a scrap left behind with the dysfunctioning planet. He couldn’t possibly be seen with her. That would ruin her reputation; he couldn’t do that to her just to attend some party.

“Yeah, my chummy is throwing it and it should be loads of fun,” Mother Nature tried to convince him, but Cold still seemed unsure. He wasn’t much for being social, but when Mother Nature was looking at him with the pleading eyes, he felt more and more guilty. He hated the idea of being seen and criticized for going to an upper social event, so he tried to make an excuse for himself. That seemed like the only plausible route.

“But what if they don’t like me? I’m an Earth spirit; no one cares about Earth,” Cold huffed, trying to sound totally over the party.

“Come on, Cold. No one even shares their information and occupation at these things. Just, please?”

***

He didn’t know how she had managed to do it, but somehow he now found himself preparing to go to this party. He tried to act done with the entire idea, as it was the worst thing in the world, but it felt nice to actually be invited to a party. Even if it was by his only friend, it was nice to be included. Maybe that’s why he found himself in his best, light blue suit that had snowflakes dancing on the fabric, frost collecting at the edges within the fabric. His black hair sparkled from frost and his face looked more angular than usual. It wasn’t a bad look, but just different than usual, which was upsetting. Maybe that’s why he was feeling nervous butterflies clouding his stomach, which he was willing to go away. Was it too showy to have flurries dancing across his body? Was it too casual? Should he have sculpted extravagant outfit in order to be among the highest class of the galaxy? He stared at himself in a piece of ice that he had created a few seconds ago, scrutinizing himself at every angle. Readjusting his hair for what had seemed like the millionth time, he sighed. He knew he would never fit in with them looking like this. Maybe his outfit wasn’t the best and he should just start from scratch. He nodded to himself, agreeing to his own over analyzation and beginning to weave another outfit out of ice and snow. However, Mother Nature soon burst in, causing a few icicles to fall from the ceiling.

Cold jumped, his head whipping to Mother Nature, who looked as beautiful as ever. With a dress weaved of all the shades of life that should’ve covered earth, tiger lilies woven through her curled hair that she somehow made have pink tips. Her outfit was quite simple, but somehow Cold felt underdressed. However, Mother Nature didn’t think so, for she grabbed his arm and tugged him away from his creation. His other option for attire then fell to the ground limp as a puppet dropped; Cold looked at Mother Nature agitatedly. She didn’t seem to care though since she was obviously in a hurry.

“Come on, we’re late!”

“Did you not see I was making a new outfi-”

“You look fine, let’s go,” Mother Nature grumbled, tugging Cold along. She stomped across the cloud, dragging a begrudging Cold like a stubborn child. Finally, when she reached the end of the cloud, she took off away from Earth, leaving the planet in only a matter of seconds. Cold was still wrapped up in his lost outfit; he was almost offended to why she didn’t let him finish. She didn’t seem bothered though, tugging him at lightspeed as they traveled towards some other system. At first, Cold was resisting, but now he let her drag him along, staring around at the passing planets and suns. The swirls of color pressed against the dark matter. The delicate stars that seemed unreachable, but with Mother Nature might take a matter of minutes to reach. He had never left Earth before; he wasn’t a high enough spirit to be able to travel. So the cosmos and constellations were incredible to him as they were monotonous to Mother Nature, for she had passed them thousands of times. The celestial bodies seemed much more brilliant than they would from his cloud, causing Cold to stare up and be utterly entranced by the universe. However, after a short amount of time, their journey through space came to an end. Mother Nature slowed down over a beautiful planet of swirling greens and purples, touching down and running to a stop. She looked back to Cold, just making sure he had made it before letting go of his arm. He snatched it back, staring at the burn mark she had caused on the fabric. Where her hand was -remember, compared to Cold she was extremely warm- the fabric had turned from the baby blue into a deep navy all of the snow gone and left with nothing. He grimaced, easily transferring it to it’s the earlier state and glaring at Mother Nature. She seemed to be indifferent though, looking around and eyes lighting up when she saw the other spirits in the distance. They had reached wherever they were supposed to be, Mother Nature sighing contently. They were on the precipice of the party, Mother Nature looking to Cold and staring him straight in the eye.

“Ok, there are a few things you need to know before we head over there. One is that you can’t bring up your planet or any business identity; political issues are not to be discussed when being social,” Cold nodded. That would be easy, not bringing up his somewhat shameful planet. That rule would be more than easy to follow. He looked at Mother Nature and nodded, causing her to continue with her debrief.

“The second is that you need to go by something else, so nothing can be associated with you,” she pondered a bit, looking to the side before she turned back to him with a wild look in her eyes. She looked over all his features, a deep look of concentration clouding her own. Suddenly, the realization must’ve struck her because her face lit up before she looked back at Cold with a gigantic smile.

“Yes, you’d make a brilliant Phil.”

Phil, Cold pondered. There was something that appealed to him about the name Phil that didn’t work with Cold. Yes, Phil was a quite ordinary, humanoid name. It was a usual, not the most original nor the most exciting. It wasn’t artfully constructed; much less beautiful, but Cold couldn’t help but adore it. Cold was merely what he was; he controlled cold things so therefore that was his name. Now that he thought about it, Cold wasn’t his name, but he didn’t have one, which to him was quite depressing. He felt like he had always deserved an actual name, but no one had bothered to give him one. He was just Cold, for centuries and millenniums just Cold. Phil though encompassed so much more. Phil wasn’t absent though. It had the potential to display his personality, to be used in a way to not just exhibit temperature. It could be used to display his grumpiness in the morning, his singing on the job that annoyed all the other ice spirits, the countless times he would slip on the ice coating the top of his cloud. Even though it wasn’t evident, there were many colors streaked with the name Phil, rather than the same monotonous icy blue Cold was used to. Phil held so much more meaning.

And somehow, just feeling Mother Nature's eyes on him in her usual caring manner made him want to cry. She cared about him enough to give him a name. He was useless, but worth at least a name. And she cared enough to give him one. Thinking more and more about it, his eyes clouded and his mouth turned into a grateful small smile. He looked down not able to process the whole set of waves that were coursing through his body. Finally, when he had recollected himself, Co-Phil looked up at Mother Nature with absolute gratitude weaved in his irises.

“Thank you,” he managed to squeak out, causing Mother Nature to squeal, hugging him tightly. Her embrace ruined the snowflakes of course, but Phil couldn’t find it in himself to care. He could just fix it later anyway, this was more important than some suit. He sighed in her set, his anxiety about the party washing away and leaving him with simple happy joy. When she finally pulled away, Phil felt rested, like a metaphorical load of shit was lifted off his shoulders. He sighed and so did she, rolling her eyes at his smile.

“You’re so adorable,” she giggled, pinching his cheek lightly.

“But wait, don’t you need a name, Mother Nature?” Phil looked at her worriedly and she laughed, another lighthearted chuckle, tapping Phil lightly on the shoulder endearingly. He looked at her confusedly, cocking his head as if to further his question, but she just sighed and shook her head.

“I already have one,” she grinned, “It’s Louise, preferred that to ‘Mother Nature’ anyway.”

Phil probably should’ve said something, but he was too awestruck over the entire situation, paralyzed on the spot. Everything that had just happened in the last few minutes had left him at a blank, staring into space before him blankly. He probably wouldn’t have moved, but Louise dragged him again, rolling her eyes in the process. Phil finally snapped out of his gaze, taking his arm back from Louise and instantly repairing his suit after seeing the absolute ruins it had turned into from Louise’s body. Soon enough it was restored and when he looked back up, he was now at the very edge of all of the socialization, the sounds of chatter louder and bubbly laughter resonating through the room. Phil felt the impending doom wash over him as the other spirits conversed right in front of him; he bit his lip nervously and looked to Louise as if pleading for guidance. She, however, just shrugged and pulled Phil into the crowd, which he begrudgingly followed.

Guess it was time to say goodbye to being alone.

***

Heat-no wait-**Dan** realized after a few brief and meager conversations that parties weren’t his thing. He had talked with a few celestial bodies and got immensely bored. He had realized from talking to a few, there were only two kinds of spirits: boring and bitchy, which Dan would rather not deal with. So, he sat on the edge of the platform, staring up at this planet's view of the stars. Yes, it was quite a different night sky than what he was used to, but he found it immensely more interesting than conversing with everyone. They all stuck their nose up to him before they even learned his name; they preferred the usual company and not meeting anyone new. It wasn’t like Dan minded since he didn’t want to communicate with them anyway.

He didn’t know how long he sat there, just staring up at the sky. He was utterly transfixed by the view, the swirling color and shining light taking up all of his conscious. He almost didn’t notice when someone sat next to him, staring in awe at the millions of stars. When the thump beside him did occur, Dan did jump, letting out a little bit of a squeal. After he realized that he wasn’t being attacked or something absurd, he did laugh at himself, almost cringing at the seemingly millionth embarrassing moment that had happened that night. Why was he such a social wreck.

“Jesus christ,” Dan mumbled under his breath, attempting to hide his face in his burned blazer sleeve and blushing. What had he resulted to? Blushing? He was a heat spirit, for christ's sake, he shouldn’t be doing something as pathetic as blushing. However, the more Dan told himself this, the deeper the shade of pink encompassing his cheeks got. The stranger though didn’t seem to notice or mind, just simply smiling at Dan.

“Sorry, hope you don’t mind if I join you,” the stranger chuckled lightly, his smooth and deep voice hitting Dan with such force. He practically cooed at the tone, which caused him to examine the stranger more closely. With the stars forgotten, he turned to study the spirit and almost audibly gasped when realizing how beautiful he was.

It seemed as if everything about him was crafted by the stars themselves, each centimeter of his skin resonating perfectly spun stardust assorted in an aesthetically pleasing fashion. He was as pale as the oh so dreaded color of snow that Dan hated with every fiber of his being, but somehow, the stranger made him tolerate the color, even admire it to some extent. You would expect the hair to also be a light color, but instead, the stranger had a jet black fringe, clashing wonderfully with his skin tone. Everything else about the man was perfect, from his lips to his hands. But, by far the object that held most of Dan’s attention was his stunning eyes, taking Dan by shock. 

His eyes were a strange mix of all cold and cool colors, Dan noticed. Most spirits or beings’ eyes were just a monotonous single shade in a variety of around three colors, but Dan found that these colors held thousands of shades. He found blue like the deepest ocean, green like light reflected off a gigantic glacier; even some subtle shades of yellow were found in the eyes. They were placed together in such a mesmerizing fashion, though, that Dan just wanted to sit and stare into them, the stars long forgotten. The stars now seemed monotonous compared to the gorgeous spirit beside him.

“No, I don’t mind at all,” Dan chuckled, realizing it was probably too late to formulate some sort of response, but did it anyway. The stranger smiled, showing off his pretty white teeth and Dan swooned. Wow, he really is flawless.

“Oh, forgive me of my manners,” The other spirit chuckled, looking down a bit somewhat awkwardly, “What’s your name?”

“Dan.” The name felt so good coming out of Dan’s lips, since it was such a better alternative to ‘Heat”, which merely described his reign of control.

“Hello Dan. I’m Phil,” He smiled again, looking up to the stars with wide eyes. Dan, however, didn’t follow his gaze, instead looking at the enchantment behind the eyes. How his features seemed to be chiseled perfectly out of the finest of stone, how his eyes sparkled when glancing at the cosmos above. Dan found himself entranced by Phil, watching his every move as if he was paralyzed at the sight of the other spirit. They sat for a while in silence, Phil studying the stars before he turned to Dan again, with a nervous look on his face.

“Oh right,” he looked down and coughed slightly before continuing, his eyebrows squinting together in concentration as if trying to formulate some sort of response.

“I came over here to ask you...why are you sitting by yourself?”

“Haha,” Dan laughed awkwardly at Phil’s notice of his introverted nature, “I don’t do parties. Or other spirits, for the matter.”

“Come on,” Phil nudged Dan playfully, “Why not?”

“I hate social interaction?” Dan offered, not really sure of his answer. How could he explain that he would much rather look at the stars and enjoy some downtime rather than talking to spirits that believed they were better than him? He was even confused as to why Phil was talking to him; he was stunning, but also sweet. Didn’t he have anything better to do? Certainly, Phil could do better than a burnt-out Earth spirit like him. He deserved the best of all the galaxy, not just some spirit that was left to rot in the chaos of his decaying planet.

“It can't be that bad, you’re talking to me,” he smiled, “Come on, Dan. Stop sulking in the corner and come dance with me.”

“What?” Dan was flabbergasted, his cheeks heating up as he looks at Phil nervously. However, the excited spirit yanked him out of his sitting position. Surprisingly, he was stronger than Dan thought, so Dan rose to his feet at such a speed that it almost made him dizzy. Phil didn’t seem to notice though, taking his hand and pulling him towards the crowd. Dan tried to keep up, but he was somewhat incapacitated by his thoughts. All he could think about was the fact that the other boy’s hand was in his, the ice-cool skin contrasting with Dan’s fiery flesh.

Before Dan could really comprehend what was happening, they were in the bulk of the people, spirits surrounding them at every single angle. Sure, it wasn’t a mosh pit, but Dan still was feeling a bit claustrophobic, conversations from the others hitting his ears at a constant rate. He looked around wildly, feeling his heartbeat quicken as he saw the other spirits. He wasn’t used to the constant chatter, wanting nothing more than to disappear back to his lair and call it a night. However, when he looked to the man in front of him, everything around him blurred away and all he could see was Phil---he was smiling while slowing down, finally turning to Dan. With Phil’s eyes on him, Dan suddenly felt bashful. How could this extremely attractive spirit have any interest in spending any amount of time with him? Dan couldn’t wallow in his self-doubt any longer though, for Phil smiled even wider than before, clearly getting ready to slow dance to the soft orchestral music in the back.

“So Dan, how did someone as divine as you find the way to this party?” Phil smirked a bit, leading Dan in a simple sway dance with his hands on Dan’s hips. Dan bit his lip, realizing only now how close they both were (which wasn’t that close, but still close for someone who had limited social interaction). His hands were on his shoulders, causing Dan to sort of fidget by the level of intimacy. He found himself unable to meet Phil’s eyes, sort of looking off to the side and letting his eyes focus on the music player.

“My friend brought me. I clearly don't get out that much,” Dan chuckled to himself, still attempting to keep himself as cool as possible -ironic right? It wasn’t like he was going to lie to Phil about his life -he couldn’t say that he was constantly around the highest of classes and his life was lavish. He tried to make himself seem as uninteresting as possible, still uncomfortable with the amount of attention he was receiving from Phil. However, Phil didn’t look like he was having it, since he stepped on Dan’s foot, causing his gaze to drift towards Phil. Dan was surprised that it wasn’t him who messed up their simple step first; he was probably one of the most clumsy spirits. When he looked up though, he saw Phil looking straight into his eyes, causing their eyes to lock and forcing Dan to continue his gaze. It wasn’t like he minded though, for he was already entranced in Phil before, but now it was just more so.

“Why not? Surely someone as beautiful as you should surely get invited to more parties,” Phil subtly flirted, easily leading them on to the beat of the music, which was relatively fast-paced. No one was paying attention to them, tied up in their own little petty dramas and conversations, but Dan felt as if he was in the spotlight. He gulped uncomfortably as a rushed response tumbled from his lips, which he immediately internally cringed at for how awkward it was.

“Not really, but you’re really pretty,” Dan wanted to facepalm right then and there since he couldn’t have said anything else that would make him sound dumber. However, Phil just chuckled, their brief conversations simmered out. They weren’t speaking, but their eyes remained locked as the stepped to the beat. It seemed as if Dan was in some sort of trance, feeling like the songs upon songs that were passing by were getting faster and faster. Phil and he weren’t in complete silence, talking about little things here and there.

Finally, after a while, Dan heard the startup to a slower song, which caused his heart to stop and his eyes to widen. He had just started to be able to handle the fast songs, the rate of his feet was his main focus instead of the beautiful man right in front of him. But, now the music was slow and calm, causing Dan to gulp in anxiety. Oh god.

“Don’t look so nervous, it’s just me,” he laughed, showing off his pearly white teeth. Goddamn it, when would he stop being flawless.

“And that should reassure me why?” Dan rolled his eyes as if the answer was obvious. It made sense that an earth spirit was scared of some probably powerful spirit by the looks of it. Hell, he had made Dan’s burning suit simmer down to a dark grey. Dan also noticed that unlike before, all the snowflakes were gone from Phil’s suit, which was kind of strange. However, he was torn away from his gaze at the suits when he felt one of Phil’s hands leave his hip and tip his face up, forcing him to look back into Phil's eyes.

“We’ve already danced for millennia, Dan,” he looked at Dan seriously, causing Dan to blink confusedly. Had it really been millennia? He hadn’t noticed, it seemed like no more than half an hour that he had spent with Phil, but somehow, the time had gotten past them. How the hell had that happened? Dan could barely burn off 30 minutes, let alone a few hours without noticing.

“What?”

“Time just flies when you are having fun,” Phil smiled, trailing off with his words. He looked towards Dan’s lips for a split second, causing Dan to internally flip out. He knew where this was going somewhat, but he couldn’t see it happening to himself. He was just Heat, nothing else, but as their lips got closer and their bodies followed in suit, he seemed to forget to think. All that was overtaking his mind was the thought of the man in front of him, who was now so close that he could feel every single breath that Phil took in. They stopped there, though, simply just staring into each other's eyes.

“Aren’t you having fun, Dan?” Phil chuckled a bit, his breath ghosting over Dan. He shivered visibly, plaint under Phil’s order. From seeing that Dan clearly wasn’t moving, Phil just shook his head slightly before finally connecting their lips, causing Dan’s heart to stop and his brain to pause. He should’ve thought it through since this was essentially a complete stranger. He should’ve gotten to know Phil better, but at that moment he couldn’t care less. Phil was so cold and sharp, but Dan liked it; it was a sharp contrast from himself. Phil held Dan close as they proceeded, making Dan feel protected and as if they hadn’t met a brief few hours ago. Dan, in any other circumstance, would’ve over thought it, but that night he couldn’t find it in himself to care at all, his usual common sense thrown out of the window in pursuit of some attractive stranger.

He just wished they would’ve kissed earlier.

***

After that fateful night, the two spirits were in love. It only took one night together to completely enamor each other, but now they were inseparable at heart. Every moment, their minds were intertwined, thinking of trivial things about each other heart-achingly. It was painful for the two to be separated, but through the centuries, and eventually, millennia that split them, they only saw each other in moderation. Louise would bring the two to many parties where they could be joined again, but of course, those were only temporary. Their night's together only lasted for a finite amount of time, which wasn’t enough for both of them. They wanted forever, but so far, life was only giving them a few hours every once in a while. It was brutal for new lovers.

Maybe that’s why Phil was feeling so heartsick, sitting in his throne and feeling so utterly alone. Yes, he harbored most of the lesser ice spirits in his somewhat fortress, but they were just with him from relations of heredity. They didn’t care that Phil wasn’t as happy as he used to be, just using him for a place to rest themselves. It wasn’t like he was going to kick them out, but he longingly wished that one of them would at least say something other than hello. Phil craved someone to talk to no matter the circumstance; yes, he loved Dan, but it was painful to only see his smiling face every time Louise decided to invite him to a party. Yes, he and Dan did speak through messages in the air, but it wasn’t enough for Phil. He wanted Dan to be there with him, but it wasn’t as if that was ever going to happen. He didn’t know what Dan did nor his obligations -he knew that Dan couldn’t just drop everything to solve Phil’s loneliness.

It wasn’t like anything else in Phil’s life went right.

Phil looked back to his controls, sighing and saw that yet again he had lost Australia in the time he was sulking. He snarled and cursed under his breath at the sight, gritting his teeth at the frustration for being mopey. Dan was distracting him, plaguing his mind every minute with thoughts of hope and love. Phil hadn’t ever had a hindrance when it came to his work ethic, but Dan was like a gigantic roadblock for his entire focus. Phil thought about every little thing that made up Dan, from his deep brown eyes to the small curve of his smile. He loved the spirits composure and personality, falling for him more and more with every word he spoke. He loved the dip in his back; he loved that when they were kissing he didn’t feel so frozen anymore. He loved running his hands through Dan’s hair, the temperature burning Phil slightly, but it wasn’t like he minded. The more he and Dan were together, the more he loved about the man. The more he seemed to notice, but those were just more things to add up on why Dan was so inexplicably perfect.

Phil could practically picture him now, standing before him with his dimple sticking out proudly. He imagined Dan sitting next to him, talking about indecipherable little things that didn’t matter whatsoever. He wanted Dan to kiss his forehead, giggle next to him, kiss him like it wasn’t the last night they were going to spend together. He wanted to explore every part of Dan’s wonderful body and explore his intricate mind; he was already caught up in everything about him, but all he wanted was more. He just wanted Dan to be there with him, but alas he was alone. On his cold, icy throne with his lover in god knows where. 

While Phil was dazed and heart-achingly dreaming of Dan, Heat was still out there, taking advantage of his weakness in persistence. Phil was weak, which Heat used to his favor. Phil sighed, running a hand through his hair. Heat was getting more and more difficult to deal with. He didn’t have time for the thoughts of Dan, he was on his mind constantly. Phil groaned, placing a hand on his forehead frustratedly; he needed to figure this shit out.

“Hello Phil,” he heard a female voice echo through his icy chambers, causing him to sigh exasperatedly yet again. He wasn’t in the mood for guests at this point, needing much more time to sort out his thoughts and figure out how exactly to approach things. Louise, though, wasn’t exactly the quietest of people, by far the most talkative person he knew. He loved her loads, obviously, but now wasn’t really the time.

“Not now, Louise,” he called out, hitting a few things on his board and smiling when seeing the first snowflakes falling over the desert land. It would be returned in no time, redoing what Phil had done just hours before. Perfect Phil thought heat doesn’t stand a chance.

“There is never time, is there?” Louise still persisted, walking over to Phil, her bare feet melting part of the pure ice floor. Phil usually didn’t mind, for it only took him a few seconds to make repairs, but for some reason today she was being particularly irritating to him. Why couldn’t he just focus on his job rather than be distracted by her? Didn’t she realize that some people on earth had actual responsibilities rather than just being social?

“So, how are you Phil?” she grinned, standing right next to him and peering over the screen. He felt ashamed at her gazing over the controls, seeing his failure in keeping control of one area. She just looked genuinely curious, but as she scanned her eyes over the controls, Phil felt ashamed. Of course, she would notice he failed at even keeping Australia under control. He was doing this all for her sake in the long run, but he was failing her. Great, as if his day wasn’t already depressing enough for him.

“A little stressed, to be honest,” Phil shook a little powdered snow off of his shoulders, sighing defeatedly. He sat back, no knowledge there was nothing that he could do since the process was already in motion. Though he had momentarily triumphed over Heat, he didn’t feel victorious at all; he just felt drained and exhausted. He was growing more and more tired of fighting Heat, the whole debacle seemingly pointless. What was the use of fighting for control when he would just come in and undermine the whole thing? They were just undoing each other's deeds, which wasn’t getting them anywhere. So why did they keep fighting?

“I can see, you have bags under your eyes. You need a break, Phil, you’ve been working too hard,” she smiled, stroking his shoulder reassuringly. He visibly relaxed at her touch, but he wasn’t convinced to spend extra time with her. She’d already been taking him to many parties, that was enough free time for anyone. He should be grateful and relaxed, but he couldn’t help but be tense. Heat was getting that much more persistent and Phil was getting less determined. Why should he spend more time away from work? If anything, he should stop escaping it and be more focussed on the task at hand.

“How about lunch at mine tomorrow? Just to talk?” Louise insisted, even though he wasn’t responding, but Phil continued to ignore her, his mind somewhere else. He was hoping that she’d drop the whole subject, just leaving him alone and to his work that he was failing to do. But, instead of just leaving or asking the question again to make sure that Phil had heard, she sighed, looking at Phil with a sadness in her eyes._ Oh god,_ Phil thought_ please don’t make me feel guilty. _

_“What happened to you?”_

__

__

“What?” Phil was snapped out of his daze, looking to Louise with a confused look. However, she just looked rather disappointed, like a mother he had failed or something like that. He felt the guilt cloud him, but he desperately tried to fight it, keeping a smile on his face.

“You’re so wound up with work you will even ignore your only friend,” she looked away morosely, causing Phil’s mind to freak out. He had done something to upset the one who did everything for him; what was wrong with him? Yes, work was important but had he forgotten who this all was for. He felt bad, looking up to Louise with his best fake smile plastered on his face in an attempt to make her feel better.

“Sorry Louise, lunch tomorrow sounds great,” he forced himself to smile since he couldn’t do that to her. He really didn’t want to go to lunch, but he would sacrifice his wants in the sake of Louise crying or not. He would take one for the team, of course.

“Ok.” She nodded, obviously sensing that Phil didn’t want to be bothered, backing away from his control pad and nearly exiting the room. She had gotten what she wanted, so now she was leaving him to do his business. Her footsteps got quieter and quieter, causing Phil to visibly relax. He didn’t feel as guilty when she wasn’t around. He looked back to his controls with a sigh, prepared to get back to what he was doing. However around a millisecond before she slipped through the door and out into the world, Phil saw something beautiful appear before his eyes.

The wind spirits had come back, bearing a message that Phil could only assume was from Dan. They would send messages back and forth constantly, but it still brought a smile to Phil’s face every single time it happened. He watched them dance among the air, easily interpreting what they were trying to say -which caused him to smile even wider than he already was. He was eternally grateful that he spoke the language of the wind spirits since Dan was apparently ‘fluent’ in their language. A light blush was brought to Phil’s face at the message, him looking down ashamedly as if trying to hide the fact that his face was a little pinker than usual. However, Mother Nature was still standing at the door, confused as to what was happening exactly. She hadn’t been on earth long enough to learn the wind spirits language, so all she saw was Phil blushing at them dancing before him. She thought it was some sort of cabaret dance, but she couldn’t help but interject before leaving the room.

“What are those?” Louise asked, causing Phil to sigh and attempt to establish his usually icy persona ---Dan had always managed to melt those walls away. It was embarrassing to be seen blushing, especially in front of Mother Nature. He recomposed himself, letting himself explain but all that came out were awkward little rambles.

“They're wind spirits, they send messages along with the wind,” Phil’s voice came out rather small and frightened. Louise wasn’t done with her interrogation though, still curious about the strange thing that she had seen before her. Surely there must’ve been a reason for this.

“Did someone send it?”

“Yeah, Dan. He says he misses me,” Phil blushed again, desperately hiding his blush. He knew that Louise was already aware of the two of them, but it was still weird for him to admit that he was in love. It was such a foreign concept to him, so saying it aloud was rather embarrassing. 

Louise though, as soon as Phil was done speaking, rolled her eyes, muttered a quick goodbye and left the control room. She was over it; the two spirits had been playing this game for months and she was tired of it. They were so oblivious, in love with each other's personas but abhorring each other's actions. It felt utterly stupid, letting the two unknowingly chase each other around. She was done, she had to do what she had to do. But she now had to figure out exactly how and when.

***

Dan was late to Louise’s lunch date, cursing himself when the time got away. He had forgotten since he was barely paying attention to Louise when she had asked him. He was distracted, for Cold had seized Australia back, causing his night to become even more stressed than before. Besides, it was hard to keep track of the time when you were immortal, so the night and morning flew by for Dan. So that’s why he was tearing through his area, rushing to make himself look somewhat decent. When he finally realized that it was just Louise, he just focussed to get out of the place. So, he rushed out of his fortress in a haze, speeding towards their usual meeting spot. He got there relatively quickly, for his placement right now was very close to their spot, smiling to himself. At least he was only a little late, not as bad as last time.

He looked for Louise, but when their eyes finally met, Dan’s eyes widened. For by Louise, was his lover. His soulmate, he was sure of. His Phil.

Phil didn’t look as formal as he usually did, not wearing a suit but just a bright blue tee-shirt and dark skinny jeans. He looked as beautiful as usual, though, causing Dan to become frozen to his spot. His skin was so pretty, his smile so beautiful, his eyes so stunning. Dan was intoxicated by him, as always, but finally, his brain caught up to his lovingness, snapping his judgment back into place.

What the fuck was going on.

“Louise, what is thi-” Phil started, but Louise cut him off, clearing her throat. The two boys looked to her confusedly, but she just looked fed up. Phil looked guilty, but Dan was just puzzled. What was happening; why was Phil here? It was like Dan’s full world had been turned upside down, the thought of Phil and Louise being in the same place shocking enough for him. His brain seemingly was moving at a snail's pace, barely being able to keep up with what was going on. There was too much for him, but nothing could prepare him for what happened next.

“Heat, meet Cold. Cold meet Heat,” she mumbled, motioning the two to each other, shattering Dan’s world apart. This couldn’t be happening, this absolutely wasn’t possible. But Louise wasn’t laughing, making it all more real. Dan couldn’t laugh this off, this was a real thing that he was going to have to deal with.

“Wha-” I started but Phil cut me off.

“Heat? That’s you? Are you serious?”

“Yeah…” Dan trailed off, “Louise what the fuck is going on?”

“I got tired of it ok?” she rolled her eyes, “You two are so in love yet also hate each other; it’s so stupid.”

“I just can’t believe it’s you,” Phil whispered quietly, looking aloof and as if his brain was in a different place. Dan internally swooned -he couldn’t help it- and found the courage to walk up to him. Yes, his brain was in peril, but he would figure that out later, pushing the thoughts to the side and focussing on the moment. Right now, he could see Phil right in front of him; he hadn’t seen him for days. Dan smiled at the sight, walking up to Phil and holding him close. Phil was still rigid even when in Dan’s arms, looking up at Dan as if he was confused at what exactly he was doing. Obviously, Phil was still caught up in the whole situation, but Dan was ignoring it with ease. Phil’s eyebrows were scrunched in concentrations, thoughts rushing through his brain at a rapid speed, though Dan just looked down to him, managing a smile.

“Phil, do you think any differently of me?” Dan asked quietly, the question being the only relevant one of the moment. He didn’t care about why he was trying to undermine him, or how this all happened, just curious as to whether or not this changed Phil’s judgment. Even though the question was rather urgent, Dan found himself patiently waiting for an answer and letting Phil take his time. Phil seemed to be putting his words together in an intricate answer, meanwhile, Dan was just ravishing in the feeling of Phil being in his arms again. He wanted this for so long -the revelation of Phil’s identity the last thing on his mind. He didn’t care that Phil was his proposed arch-nemesis, he just paid attention to the fact that Phil was right there with him.

“No, I don’t think so,” Phil said, sounding unsure of himself. Dan chuckled, nuzzling his face into the nape of Phil’s shoulder, taking in his scent and just enjoying the moment. He didn’t care that Louise was there, smiling at them as if she was watching some really romantic moment as the mother or something - he guessed that comes with being Mother Nature. He didn’t care about that or anything else that probably should’ve been on his mind, just enamored Phil and letting myself get lost in him.

“Then I think we can make this work,” Dan muttered into Phil’s shoulder, smiling into the soft fabric of his tee-shirt.

And after that day, the Earth finally started flourishing like the legacy that it was supposed to be. With the two spirits working together, life sprouted from every square inch of the planet. Unlike the centuries before of destruction and chaos, everything seemed to be working itself out, even putting some other planets to shame. Vegetation scattered around the lands, animals inhabited the land, sea, and sky and every creature lived in harmony on the planet. Phases of animals came and went; the dinosaurs, the humans (who dressed and looked very similar to spirits) and other dominant species that came along. But overall, no matter what torment or triumph the Earth went through, life still sprung for the most desolate of corners.

And to think that it was all because of the two spirits working together to reshape the world. The two spirits who thought there were nothing but meager earth spirits, pathetic and worthless. It was strange to other spirits, to think that just from joining the two together could rise to such power as how they had. It was a phenomenon that other spirits envied, but could never quite figure out. They tried countless times, used countless equations, but could never learn of what made them so powerful.

But in the end, it was just Dan and Phil, ruling the world together.


End file.
